I Want This Bike, Yet Fear Dying
I’m selling my car, so I’m always on the lookout for alternate transport. This electric bicycle from Specialized seems pretty damn cool, if Sri Lankan roads weren’t so damn hostile. There’s one bike path near Independence Square and, randomly, Mattakuliya, but besides that, riding a bicycle in Colombo can be quite dangerous.
What’s cool about this bicycle is that it’s electric, it has a motor which can propel you up to 45 kmph, which is about the speed of a trishaw. During a daily commute, I think your average speed in whatever vehicle is like 10-20 kmph anyways. The battery recharges in 2 hours and having power makes this thing possible for longer commuting, including outstation.
I used to bike all the time (except the winter) in Montreal and I loved it. I honestly thought anyone driving in that city was a shmuck, but – in hindsight – they were kind enough to not actively be trying to kill me. There were bike lanes and bike parking spots and even though one beloved bike was stolen, there was always a steady supply of cheap stolen bikes.
That was there. Colombo isn’t that dense in the first place and you don’t see that many people biking. Motor Biking, but not bicycling, or eBiking or whatever. Still seems like a cool thing. If only there was an equally sophisticated helmet, and horn. Then this sort of thing might be street ready for the global south.
I’m happy to be featured in Echelon magazine’s 40 Under 40 feature, profiling young people who contribute to the economy in some way, mainly in business but also in terms of innovation and thought leadership. It’s an interesting article not just in that I’m in it (mainly for work on indi.ca and 
I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
In 2009 this strange character appeared on the Sri Lankan Internet scene, getting angry, flaming, trolling whatever. Then he started naming anonymous bloggers, posting comments as people’s kids, nasty stuff, for which I removed him from 
The chutzpah of this government knows no bounds. Every government since Independence has had to balance placating Sinhala nationalists (AKA racists) while at the same time actually running a sensible, inclusive nation that doesn’t send minority citizens, capital and foreign investment fleeing. Basically, they’ve had to pay lip service to nationalists while at the same time trying to run an actual nation. Every government has also generally failed, SWRD being killed by a nationalist monk and everyone after almost losing the country to various rebellions. In that context Mahinda is actually doing a better job by virtue of not being dead and not losing control of the country. But he’s still not doing a good job.
That would be really cool !
Indi,
I like that idea and think it makes a lot of sense. Still what beats me is how can one arrive in the office or wherever with continental sweat patches under the arms. At the moment we walk back packing the laptop and when I remove it the whole back of the shirt and the what was covered with the shoulder straps are drenched in sweat. Disgusting! Luckily that’s when you arrive home. To make the matters worse we are supposed to be in neckties too.
henryblogwalker the Dude
” Colombo isn’t that dense in the first place and you don’t see that many people biking. ”
What? Are you crazy? The Colombo city is dense, especially during office/school rush hours. In that colossal mess of a traffic jam and thinking about how most of our bus drivers drive, riding a bicycle in there is asking for an early exit from life.
Bike helmets are available:
http://www.bellsports.com/cycling
If you avoid peak traffic or stick to less congested road you are ok.
Apart from getting knocked down, that the problems with cycling are the heat, exhaust fumes and dogs.
I always wanted to cycle in Colombo but not worth the risk, if you get what I mean. Hopefully Gota or the CMC would build cycle paths in the city, part of their beautification thingy ;)
Cycling here being dangerous is an understatement. Motorcycles (for the most part) have taken advantage of their size to wriggle into every conceivable gap in traffic to the point that most motorists will not respect their space.
In countries with civilized traffic I’ve seen motorcycles (where bikes are restricted to bike lanes only) follow the same traffic laws that everyone else has to adhere to, even taking up roughly the same area as small car. I’ve tried cycling here a few times in the Rajagiriya area. It’s a death trap.